Exploiting the fixed centre

 The concept of the 'model' game is a common tool in chess education, especially when we self study. Normally the choice of game is some Capablanca/Fischer masterpiece where the opponent makes one minor slip and then gets ruthlessly crushed. My preference is to look at games from a slightly lower level as (a) they are more understandable and (b) the defensive options are much more limited.

A good example is a recent game from the 2024 Canterbury Summer Swiss  involving FM Michael Kethro. Facing a Stonewall setup, Kethro did all the right things in (a) taking control of e5 (b) fixing the centre and (c) breaking through on the queenside. If you look at the game through the eyes on an engine, White is always better, but without an engine, it is an instructive lesson in how to break down an opponents defensive setup.

 

Kethro,Michael (2115) - Arthur,James (1816) [D30]
2024 Canterbury Summer Swiss Melbourne, Australia (6.4), 30.12.2024

1. d4 e6 2. c4 d5 3. Nf3 c6 4. Nbd2 f5 5. g3 Nf6 6. Bg2 Bd6 7. O-O O-O 8. Ne5 Bd7 9. Ndf3 Be8 10. Qc2 Ne4 11. Nd3 Bh5 12. Bf4 g5 13. Bxd6 Qxd6 14. Rad1 Nd7 15. Nfe5 Kg7 16. c5 Qe7 17. Nxd7 Qxd7 18. Ne5 Qe7 19. Bxe4 fxe4 20. f3 exf3 21. exf3 Rf6 22. Qd2 h6 23. Rf2 Raf8 24. Rdf1 Bg6 25. b4 a6 26. Kg2 Qd8 27. h3 Qe7 28. Rh1 Be4 29. Rff1 Bg6 30. a3 Qd8 31. Rf2 Be4 32. Rhf1 Bg6 33. Kg1 Qe7 34. Kh2 Qd8 35. Rh1 Be4 36. Kg2 Qe7 37. Rff1 Bg6 38. Qe3 Bh7 39. Rf2 Bg6 40. Re1 Bf5 41. Kh2 Be4 42. Ree2 Bh7 43. Ng4 Rf5 44. Ne5 R5f6 45. Ra2 Bb1 46. Rab2 Bh7 47. Kg2 Bf5 48. Ra2 Bb1 49. Ra1 Be4 50. Rff1 Bf5 51. Rfe1 Bh7 52. Re2 Bg6 53. Rb2 Bh5 54. Rf2 Bg6 55. a4 Be4 56. Raa2 Bb1 57. Rab2 Bg6 58. b5 axb5 59. axb5 cxb5 60. Rxb5 Be8 61. Rb6 Kh8 62. Rfb2 Bc6 63. R2b3 Kg8 64. Qd3 Qe8 65. Rxb7 Bxb7 66. Rxb7 R8f7 67. Rxf7 Rxf7 68. Qg6+ Kf8 69. Qxf7+ Qxf7 70. Nxf7 Kxf7 71. f4 1-0

2024 World Rapid and Blitz - Day 3

 After all the drama on Day 2, there was still a chess tournament to run on Day 3. Players turned up, played another 4 games and Volodar Murzin won the Open, with Humpy Koneru winning the Women's. Once people got back to watching the chess, there were a number of exciting games on the third day, including a wild last round game been Neimann and Nakamura (which was won by Neimann). Tomorrow is a rest day, with the Blitz starting on the 30th (New York time). In a change from last year, there will be a thirteen round blitz on day 1, with the top 8 players qualifying for a KO final on day 2.

 

A dedicated follower of fashion

 The 2024 World Rapid and Blitz has gone somewhat sideways, with yop seed Magnus Carlsen withdrawing from the current Rapid event, and the upcoming Blitz event. The issue was a breach of the dress code, with Carlsen being find for wearing jeans, and then be unpaired when he refused to change them before his next round. After his offer to change them at the end of the day was refused, he decided to withdraw from both events. Carlsen was not the first player to breach the dress rules at this years event, but in this case was the only one to refuse to change his attire when requested.

Online opinion on the decision to fine Carlsen, and Carlsen's subsequent withdrawal is somewhat mixed. There are those who think the rules are silly (or an exception should be made for Carlsen), while there are others who point out that he was aware of the rules in advance (or that he was doing badly enough in the event to find an escape hatch). Personally* I am not a fan of strict rules like this, but if you have them, then they should be enforced. 

As for the over the board action, four players share the lead after 9 rounds.  Volodar Murzin, Jan-Krzystof Duda, Arjun Erigaisi, and Alexander Grischuk are all on 7/9 with 4 rounds to play. In the Women's event, Wenjun Ju, Harika Dronavalli and Humpy Koneru all lead on 6.5/8.

*I have both been DQ'd from an official FIDE event for breaching a regulation (2004 Chess Olympiad) and been part of enforcing tournament regulations at official FIDE events (I was an arbiter at the 2023 World Rapid and Blitz)

2024 World Rapid and Blitz

 The 2024 World Rapid and Blitz Championship has begun in New York. Once again it has attracted most of the worlds best players, noting that more American players are taking part this year (due to the venue) but less FIDE players (also due to the venue). 

It looks like the first day provided plenty of content for the online commentators, with a number of significant upsets. The most newsworthy result is Magnus Carlsen sitting on 50% after the first 5 rounds, but at this stage, everyone has dropped at least half a point. However, with only 8 rounds left to play (4 on each of the next 2 days) it may be difficult for Carlsen to catch up, as he has 70 players in front of him,

Two Australian players are taking part this year, IM Rishi Sardana and FM Kai Jie Soo. Sardana is on a 2/5 (beating GM Sergey Erenburg in round 5), and Soo is on 1/5.

The games start around 6am Canberra time, so you can catch the action if you are awake early enough. The games are scheduled 80 mins apart, so even if you miss the first one, you should be able to catch the rest. https://worldrapidandblitz2024.fide.com/

Anachronism

 A subset of literature that I occasionally dip my toe into is "Sherlock Holmes" 'extended' fiction. This is essentially where the character of Sherlock Holmes is inserted into another setting, as a kind of writers device to tie a story about a different topic together. 

In chess the most famous example is "The Chess Mysteries of Sherlock Holmes" by Raymond Smullyan. This is in fact a book about retrograde analysis in chess, but presented as using Holmes as a way to make it more readable. 

I found a similar book set in the world of Contract Bridge, "Sherlock Holmes, Bridge Detective". Again it is a series of problems, woven together by a narrative involving the fictional detective (and Dr Watson), as participants in a challenge match. In this case, all well and good, except for the fact that the suggested date of Holmes' passing was March 1927, and Contract bridge (as used in the book) did not become established until 1929.

Nit-picking for sure, but also the sign of laziness on the part of the author,

Translate

 While travelling through Europe I decided to pick up a few of the local chess magazines. Unlike Australia, these were often on sale at the local newsagent, so grabbing a copy of  Schach Magazine, or Rochade was pretty easy. The drawback of course was that by knowledge of German was good enough to catch a train, but not enough to read the magazine.

But this is where google Translate came in handy. Previously I had just used it to find the meaning of a word or street sign, but it of course can translate whole slabs of text. By pointing my camera at the page, Translate was able to show me the English text, in real time. Of course chess is a pretty universal language, but it was still nice to read about the details of an event, rather than just the moves.

The extra benefit of this is that it gives a portion of my chess book collection a whole new use. Previously I had picked up foreign language chess books quite sparingly, but know I hope to increase my numbers, and then read them like any other book I had.

2024 ACT Rapidplay Championship - Press and Kethro tie for 1st

 The 2024 ACT Rapidplay Championship ended in a tie for 1st between Harry Press and FM Michael Kethro. The 7 round event attracted a big field of 58 players, with the Big 3 of Street Chess (Press, Kethro and FM Fred Litchfield) all taking part. Press started with 4/4 before drawing with Kethro (on 3.5) in round 5. Round 7 saw Press draw with the always solid CM Hui Li, while Kethro won against Willis Lo, leaving Press and Kethro tied on 6/7. Tied for third on 5.5 were Malik Amer and Thomas Gatzen-O'Keefe. Gatzen-O'Keefe played an extreme for of the swiss gambit, going LDWWWWW in the event.

Olamide Fasakin picked up the Under 1800 prize, while newcomer Ajo Varghese won the Under 1300. Masaki Horikawa won the best junior prize. 

ACT Rapid Championship

 It is very late notice, but the 2024 AVT Rapid Championship is on tomorrow (21 December). It is being held at King O'Malley's, City Walk, Canberra City, starting at 11am. Entry is $10 ($5 for juniors), and is a 7 round swiss with a time limit of G/15m

Plenty of fun and plenty of prizes to be had.

Forace's Legacy

 The end of the Ding v Gukesh World Championship match elicited  a number of comments concerning possible reasons for Ding's error, but trying to simplify when behind on material  isn't unprecedented. In local Canberra circles doing so even has a name. It is known as Forace's Legacy, discovered by, and named after, local player Lee Forace.

It apparently came about during an analysis session many years ago, involving a number of (then) junior players. In a position where one side was behind on material, Lee suggested a move that involved the weaker side swapping off a piece. When the other players looked confused,  Lee asked 'what's wrong?'. The reply came back 'you don't exchange when behind on material'.

Now like most chess rules, there are exceptions, as shown in this years World Championship. Exchanging to reach a fortress, or going into a drawn ending a pawn (or even a piece) down are well known motif's. But these are special cases, and in general keeping pieces on the board is normally preferable when behind. However, I will also suggest that blindly exchanging pieces when you are ahead on material is not always the best strategy either.

I declare a number war

 The 2024 World Chess Championship is barely over and already people are finding ways to argue about it. The most prominent one is the number of 'Official Champions' although a few silly arguments have also popped up.

The cause of the argument about who is an 'Official" champion started with the claim the Gukesh is the youngest World Champion in history. A number of people pointed out that Ruslan Ponomariov won the 2002 FIDE World Championship at a slightly younger age, meaning that Gukesh was not actually the youngest. This of course then devolved into a debate whether these events could be considered proper World Championships.

Normally it would be assumed that FIDE itself would have the final say in this, but it appears this is not the case. While they recognise their own version of the World Championship, they also seem to omit the winners of these events (Khalifman, Ponomariov, Kasimdzhanov and Topolov) in their numbering of world champions. This does make sense if the criteria is "Undisputed or lineal" World Champions, although at the time of the split between Championships, FIDE certainly never made that argument.

BTW if you think that finding the answer at place like Wikipedia might help, I would suggest you wait a few weeks. There seems to be an edit war going on on the World Championship page, which as a result has restrictions on who can actually now edit the page.

Do you deface chess books?

 When I trawl through pile of 2nd hand chess books, I often see that previous owners have underlines certain moves or written notes in the margins (I have found a forced win for White in the starting position, but this margin is too small to write he proof ...). 

At first this horrified me, but now I am starting to see that this is sometimes acceptable. I am working through some coaching books, and to get full value, I often think I should highlight unsuggested alternatives, or record analysis for later checking. While this would obviously reduce the quality of the book, it would probably improve my understanding of the text.

However, there is one problem. When I tried to do this, my hand refused to put pencil to paper! So for now my books remain unsullied, at least until I can overcome the psychological road block that stands in front of me.

2024 World Chess Championship - Tales of the unexpected

 In a match full of twists and turns, the 2024 World Chess Championship ended in the most unexpected way. Game 14 was the final game played at long time controls, and with the match tied 6.5-6.5, a win for either player would secure the title, and avoid a playoff at faster time controls. 

For almost the entire game the evaluation remained fairly equal, even after Ding chose to go into an ending a pawn down. Being a pawn up, Gukesh saw no risk in playing on, but by this stage most of the online chatter had turned to finding out what time the playoff games started after this game had finished. 

But on move 55, Ding offered a trade of rooks, which Gukesh gratefully accepted. Due to the poor placement of Ding's bishop (on a8), Gukesh could immediately trade off into a winning king and pawn ending. When I saw the position I first assumed that either (a) the game was over and extra moves were being analysed or (b) Ding had a stalemate/fortress trick that the engines did not understand. Neither assumption was correct, and the sad truth was that Ding had just played one of the most consequential blunders in World Championship history.

The final position was winning for Black, although there is only one path to victory (the f pawn has to be sacrificed at the right moment). Ding decided not to test Gukesh's elementary endgame knowledge, resigning instead.

So Gukesh becomes the youngest World Champion in history, beating Kasparov's record. It caps a remarkable run for Gukesh, winning both the Candidates tournament and the World Championship at his first attempts. 

For Ding, this loss must be a heartbreaker, and where he goes with his chess from here remains to be seen. Possibly the burden of being a World Champion has been holding him back, and in the long term, losing the match may be a net benefit.

Ding,Liren (2728) - Gukesh D (2783) [A08]
FIDE World Championship Match 2024 Singapore SGP (14), 12.12.2024

1. Nf3 d5 2. g3 c5 3. Bg2 Nc6 4. d4 e6 5. O-O cxd4 6. Nxd4 Nge7 7. c4 Nxd4 8. Qxd4 Nc6 9. Qd1 d4 10. e3 Bc5 11. exd4 Bxd4 12. Nc3 O-O 13. Nb5 Bb6 14. b3 a6 15. Nc3 Bd4 16. Bb2 e5 17. Qd2 Be6 18. Nd5 b5 19. cxb5 axb5 20. Nf4 exf4 21. Bxc6 Bxb2 22. Qxb2 Rb8 23. Rfd1 Qb6 24. Bf3 fxg3 25. hxg3 b4 26. a4 bxa3 27. Rxa3 g6 28. Qd4 Qb5 29. b4 Qxb4 30. Qxb4 Rxb4 31. Ra8 Rxa8 32. Bxa8 g5 33. Bd5 Bf5 34. Rc1 Kg7 35. Rc7 Bg6 36. Rc4 Rb1+ 37. Kg2 Re1 38. Rb4 h5 39. Ra4 Re5 40. Bf3 Kh6 41. Kg1 Re6 42. Rc4 g4 43. Bd5 Rd6 44. Bb7 Kg5 45. f3 f5 46. fxg4 hxg4 47. Rb4 Bf7 48. Kf2 Rd2+ 49. Kg1 Kf6 50. Rb6+ Kg5 51. Rb4 Be6 52. Ra4 Rb2 53. Ba8 Kf6 54. Rf4 Ke5 55. Rf2 Rxf2 56. Kxf2 Bd5 57. Bxd5 Kxd5 58. Ke3 Ke5 0-1

2024 World Chess Championship - A tougher game than expected

 Game 13 of the 2024 World Chess Championship turned out to be tougher than many predicted. With decisive results in the previous 2 games, I for one expected that both players would try not to take too many risks so close to the end of the match, Instead another sharp game was served up, and again Ding found himself scrambling to defend a worse position.

Gukesh tried another line against the French, and this time emerged with a small opening advantage. It was Ding's turn to play the position defensively, which Gukesh tried to exploit. However, at crucial moments both players found '2nd best' moves, which changed the evaluation of the position. Probably the most consequential choice was around move 30, where Ding;s best move was to give up the Queen for 2 rooks and hold the draw, Instead he kept the queen, which gave Gukesh a chance to increase his control of the central files. But he failed to choose the best line, and despite some small tactical threats, a fairly equal ending was reached soon after move 40. But equal does no mean drawn, and Gukesh pushed for another 20 odd moves before a draw was agreed to.

The last round is tonight (not tomorrow as I suggested the other day). Having got all my predictions for the match wrong so far, I simply suggest juts tuning in to watch it from 8pm Canberra time.

Gukesh D (2783) - Ding,Liren (2728) [C11]
FIDE World Championship Match 2024 Singapore SGP (13), 11.12.2024

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e5 Nfd7 5. Nce2 c5 6. c3 Nc6 7. a3 Be7 8. Be3 Nb6 9. Nf4 cxd4 10. cxd4 Nc4 11. Bxc4 dxc4 12. Nge2 b5 13. O-O O-O 14. Nc3 Rb8 15. Nh5 f5 16. exf6 Bxf6 17. Qf3 Qe8 18. Nxf6+ Rxf6 19. Qe2 Qg6 20. f3 Rf8 21. Rad1 Ne7 22. Bf4 Rb6 23. Bc7 Rb7 24. Bd6 Re8 25. Bxe7 Rexe7 26. Qe5 a6 27. d5 exd5 28. Qxd5+ Qe6 29. Qc5 Re8 30. Rde1 Qf7 31. Ne4 Rf8 32. Nd6 Rc7 33. Qe5 Qf6 34. Qd5+ Kh8 35. Re5 Re7 36. Rfe1 Rxe5 37. Rxe5 h6 38. Qc5 Bd7 39. Ne4 Qf4 40. Re7 Bf5 41. Qd4 Rg8 42. h3 Qc1+ 43. Kf2 Bxe4 44. Rxe4 c3 45. bxc3 Qxa3 46. Kg3 Qb3 47. Re7 a5 48. Rb7 Qc4 49. Qe5 Qc6 50. Qxb5 Qxc3 51. Ra7 Qe1+ 52. Kh2 Qb4 53. Qxb4 axb4 54. Rb7 Ra8 55. Rxb4 Ra2 56. Kg3 Kh7 57. Rb5 Kg6 58. f4 Kf6 59. Kf3 Rc2 60. g3 Rc3+ 61. Kg4 Ra3 62. h4 Rc3 63. Rb6+ Kf7 64. f5 h5+ 65. Kf4 Rc4+ 66. Kf3 Rc3+ 67. Kf4 Rc4+ 68. Kf3 Rc3+ 1/2-1/2

2024 World Chess Championship - Boy, that escalated quickly

 It seems like all my predictions for this match have been well off the mark. While I was at the match (for games 7,8,9) I predicted that I would see at least one decisive game, which I did not. And having seen yesterdays game (and game ending blunder) I was sure Gukesh was ready to steamroll Ding. He did not.

Instead, Ding recovered from yesterdays disaster with a comprehensive win in Game 12. As White, Ding held a slight edge throughout the opening (basically more space), but around move 16 Gukesh started to make some poor choices. This allowed Ding to target weak points in Gukesh's position and get in the important d4 push in. After that it seemed like Gukesh didn't have a plan to defend the position, and Ding just built up a dominating position. By the end it was so overwhelming that he could afford to miss the strongest computer choices (26.Na7) and still cruise to victory.

So an amazing comeback for Ding, with the match now tied at 6-6. Another rest day today (and one after game 13), so at least Gukesh will have time to recover.

Ding,Liren (2728) - Gukesh D (2783) [A13]
FIDE World Championship Match 2024 Singapore SGP (12), 09.12.2024

1. c4 e6 2. g3 d5 3. Bg2 Nf6 4. Nf3 d4 5. O-O Nc6 6. e3 Be7 7. d3 dxe3 8. Bxe3 e5 9. Nc3 O-O 10. Re1 h6 11. a3 a5 12. h3 Be6 13. Kh2 Rb8 14. Qc2 Re8 15. Nb5 Bf5 16. Rad1 Nd7 17. Qd2 Bg6 18. d4 e4 19. Ng1 Nb6 20. Qc3 Bf6 21. Qc2 a4 22. Ne2 Bg5 23. Nf4 Bxf4 24. Bxf4 Rc8 25. Qc3 Nb8 26. d5 Qd7 27. d6 c5 28. Nc7 Rf8 29. Bxe4 Nc6 30. Bg2 Rcd8 31. Nd5 Nxd5 32. cxd5 Nb8 33. Qxc5 Rc8 34. Qd4 Na6 35. Re7 Qb5 36. d7 Rc4 37. Qe3 Rc2 38. Bd6 f6 39. Rxg7+ 1-0

2024 World Chess Championship - Checks and captures

 There is a famous story concerning Boris Spassky (which I have previously posted). about blunders coming in pairs. In Game 11 of the World Chess Championship showed this to be true.

Gukesh chose an opening that lead to an unbalanced position (a reverse Blumenfeld), but the main effect was that both players used up a lot of time in the opening. White pushed his b pawn all the way to b6, which was probably a sacrifice intended to open the b file for White's rooks. As both players began to run short of time, Gukesh found a knight manoeuvrer, involving Nb1-a3-c2-a1-b3-c5, the last move which was in response to a poor move by Ding ( 26 ... e6). He could have won back his pawn with a little tactic (28.Nxb7) but chose to swing his rook to the b file. Ding could have closed of the file with 28 ... Nb4, but to paraphrase Spassky, a small mistake is often followed by a bigger one.  

Failing to follow the advice of 'look at all checks and captures', Ding hurriedly played 28 ... Qc8?? and resigned after 29.Qxc6 was played. 

A real tragedy for Ding,  and a real boost for Gukesh. Not only does he hold a 1 point lead with 3 games left to play, the effect of such a blunder on Ding may destroy his confidence for the rest of the match.

Gukesh D (2783) - Ding,Liren (2728) [A09]
FIDE World Championship Match 2024 Singapore SGP (11), 08.12.2024

1. Nf3 d5 2. c4 d4 3. b4 c5 4. e3 Nf6 5. a3 Bg4 6. exd4 cxd4 7. h3 Bxf3 8. Qxf3 Qc7 9. d3 a5 10. b5 Nbd7 11. g3 Nc5 12. Bg2 Nfd7 13. O-O Ne5 14. Qf4 Rd8 15. Rd1 g6 16. a4 h5 17. b6 Qd6 18. Ba3 Bh6 19. Bxc5 Qxc5 20. Qe4 Nc6 21. Na3 Rd7 22. Nc2 Qxb6 23. Rab1 Qc7 24. Rb5 O-O 25. Na1 Rb8 26. Nb3 e6 27. Nc5 Re7 28. Rdb1 Qc8 29. Qxc6 1-0

2024 World Chess Championship - A familiar refrain

 One of the demands that Bobby Fischer made when World Chess Champion was that future title matches be determined by number of wins, rather than final score. He envisaged a situation where one player took an early lead and then the remaining games were all drawn. This idea was accepted by FIDE, at least up until the first Karpov v Kasparov match. 

In some ways, what Fischer feared happening has been evident for a while now. With shorter matches for the title, the number of 'risk free' draws has significantly increased. Combine this with much better opening preparation, and a lot of games see players hoping for a small edge out of the opening, and if that does not happen, then playing solid chess until a draw can be agreed.

Game 10 of the current match was very much like this. The only imbalance in the position was doubled f pawns for Black, but given the high level of defensive technique these days, there was no hope of a Rubenstein type ending masterclass from Ding, and the game ended in a draw at move 36.

 

Ding,Liren (2728) - Gukesh D (2783) [D02]
FIDE World Championship Match 2024 Singapore SGP (10), 07.12.2024

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 d5 3. Bf4 e6 4. e3 c5 5. Be2 Bd6 6. dxc5 Bxc5 7. c4 O-O 8. O-O Nc6 9. Nc3 dxc4 10. Bxc4 Nh5 11. Bg5 Be7 12. Ne4 Nf6 13. Nxf6+ Bxf6 14. Qxd8 Rxd8 15. Bxf6 gxf6 16. Rfd1 Bd7 17. Rac1 Be8 18. Rxd8 Rxd8 19. Kf1 Kg7 20. a3 f5 21. Ke1 Kf6 22. Be2 Ne7 23. g3 Rc8 24. Rxc8 Nxc8 25. Nd2 Nd6 26. Nc4 Nxc4 27. Bxc4 Bc6 28. f4 b6 29. Kd2 Ke7 30. Kc3 Kd6 31. b4 f6 32. Kd4 h6 33. Bb3 Bb7 34. Bc4 Bc6 35. Bb3 Bb7 36. Bc4 Bc6 1/2-1/2

2024 World Chess Championship - Late Middlegame Blues

 Game 9 of the 2024 World Chess Championship did not reach any great heights. After the excitement of the previous two days, this game saw both players try to avoid any risky positions to create winning chances. The only real point of interest was the tactical interplay around move 20, which saw Gukesh gain a passed pawn on the c file, but Ding always had this under control. The two players clearly understood that there was nothing more in the position, but entertained the spectators by quickly playing out an ending that finished with KvK.

Today is a rest day, which also coincides with me heading home from Singapore. It was an interesting experience being onsite for 3 of the games, as well as watching the concurrent Singapore International Open. My prediction that Ding's winning chances improve the longer he goes without falling behind still stands. Nonetheless I will be surprised if it goes to a playoff, because if it does, then I would tip Gukesh to prevail.

Gukesh D (2783) - Ding,Liren (2728) [E11]
FIDE World Championship Match 2024 Singapore SGP (9), 5.12.2024

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 Bb4+ 4. Bd2 Be7 5. Bg2 d5 6. Nf3 O-O 7. O-O c6 8. Qc2 Nbd7 9. Rd1 b6 10. Bc3 Bb7 11. Nbd2 Qc7 12. Rac1 Rfd8 13. b4 c5 14. bxc5 bxc5 15. Qb2 Nb6 16. Ba5 dxc4 17. Nxc4 Bxf3 18. Bxb6 axb6 19. Bxf3 Ra6 20. Qb5 Rxa2 21. Nxb6 Qa7 22. Qb1 Rb8 23. dxc5 Ra6 24. Qb5 Bxc5 25. Qxc5 Qxb6 26. Qxb6 Raxb6 27. Rc6 Rxc6 28. Bxc6 g5 29. Kg2 Rb2 30. Kf1 Kg7 31. h3 h5 32. Ra1 Rc2 33. Bb5 Rc5 34. Bd3 Nd7 35. f4 gxf4 36. gxf4 Rc3 37. Kf2 Nc5 38. Ke3 Nxd3 39. exd3 Rc2 40. Kf3 Rd2 41. Ra3 Kg6 42. Rb3 f6 43. Ra3 Kf5 44. Ra5+ e5 45. fxe5 Rxd3+ 46. Ke2 Rxh3 47. exf6+ Kxf6 48. Kf2 h4 49. Kg2 Rg3+ 50. Kh2 Kg6 51. Rb5 Rg5 52. Rxg5+ Kxg5 53. Kh3 Kf6 54. Kxh4 1/2-1/2

2024 Singapore International Open - GM norm for Winkelman

 The 2024 Singapore International Open was won by GM Shanglei Lu (China), with 7.5/9.  But the outstanding result (from an Australian point of view) was FM Albert Winkelman finishing tied for 2nd on 7/9. He started the event seeded 91st, and due to the accelerated pairings, faced a GM in round 1. Winning that game, and then drawing his next game with an IM, set him up for a good run through the event. He wrapped up the IM norm (his 2nd) with a round to spare, but a final round win over GM Vahap Sanal (Turkey), moved up up to 7 points. He won his last 4 games, and played a field that included 4 GM's, 2 IM's and an FM. He finished in 6th place on tie-break, taking home what is probably the biggest prize of his chess career.

 

Sanal, Vahap - Winkelman, Albert [D02]
2024 Singapore International Open (9), 5.12.2024

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 d5 3. c3 e6 4. Bf4 c5 5. e3 Nc6 6. Nbd2 Be7 7. Ne5 Nd7 8. Ndf3 Ndxe5 9. dxe5 g5 10. Bg3 h5 11. h4 g4 12. Nd2 Qc7 13. e4 Nxe5 14. exd5 exd5 15. Bb5+ Kf8 16. O-O Bd6 17. Re1 Be6 18. Nf1 Ng6 19. Bd3 Nf4 20. Bc2 Rd8 21. Qd2 Rh6 22. Rad1 Rf6 23. Ne3 Kg7 24. Bxf4 Bxf4 25. g3 d4 26. gxf4 dxe3 27. Qxe3 Rxd1 28. Rxd1 Qxf4 29. Qxf4 Rxf4 30. Rd8 Bxa2 31. Rd7 b6 32. Rxa7 Bd5 33. Re7 Kf6 34. Rd7 Ke6 35. Rd8 Rf3 36. Re8+ Kd6 37. Rd8+ Ke6 38. Re8+ Kd7 39. Re5 Bc6 40. Rxh5 Rh3 41. Bf5+ Kc7 42. f3 Bxf3 43. Kf2 Kd6 44. Bc8 f6 45. c4 Rh2+ 46. Kg3 Rxb2 47. Rh8 Ke5 48. Re8+ Kd4 49. h5 Rg2+ 50. Kf4 Rh2 51. Rh8 Be2 52. h6 Bd3 53. Kg3 Rh1 54. Bxg4 Kxc4 55. Bf3 Re1 56. Rb8 b5 57. Bc6 b4 58. Rb7 Rg1+ 59. Kh4 Rg8 60. Rd7 Rh8 61. Kh5 Kc3 62. Bd5 c4 0-1

2024 World Chess Championship - Gukesh escapes

 Game 8 of the 2024 World Chess Championship was another exciting affair, with Ding going close to winning, and Gukesh finding the save. The first critical moment came on move 22, when Gukesh, as black, played 22 ... b5. At the press conference after the game, he thought he was almost winning in the position, and Ding seemed to be in a lot of trouble.  Ding quickly decided to give up the a pawn a few moves later, but confessed that had been based in a miscalculation! However he did get a lot of piece play for the pawn, and after he found 28.Qe1! he was back in the game. So much so, that a few moves later he won an exchange for a pawn, and had all the winning chances. In the rush to time control the position was repeated (to save time on the clock), but surprisingly it was Gukesh who varied. The decision by Ding to eliminate one of Gukesh's dangerous queenside pawns seemed sensible, but with accurate play the game ended in a draw.

The score after 8 games is now 4-4. Each draw puts pressure on Gukesh 'to do something', although if the match goes to tie-breaks, youth may be a factor. Certainly Ding is looking a lot more energetic than in recent months (at the board at least), and the fact he has avoided the fate that a lot of pundits predicted (including myself), may give him confidence going into the last 6 games.

Ding,Liren (2728) - Gukesh D (2783) [A21]
FIDE World Championship Match 2024 Singapore SGP (8), 4.12.2024

1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 Bb4 3. Nd5 Be7 4. Nf3 d6 5. g3 c6 6. Nxe7 Nxe7 7. Bg2 f6 8. O-O Be6 9. b3 d5 10. Ba3 O-O 11. Rc1 a5 12. Ne1 Re8 13. f4 exf4 14. Rxf4 dxc4 15. bxc4 Ng6 16. Re4 Na6 17. Nc2 Qc7 18. Nd4 Bf7 19. d3 Ne5 20. Nf3 Nd7 21. Rxe8+ Rxe8 22. Rb1 b5 23. cxb5 Qb6+ 24. Kf1 cxb5 25. Bb2 Bxa2 26. Bd4 Nac5 27. Rc1 Bb3 28. Qe1 Be6 29. Qf2 Rc8 30. Be3 Rc7 31. Nd4 Bf7 32. Nc6 Rxc6 33. Bxc6 Qxc6 34. Bxc5 h6 35. Ke1 b4 36. Qd4 Ne5 37. Kd2 Qg2 38. Qf2 Qd5 39. Qd4 Qg2 40. Qf2 Qd5 41. Qd4 Qa2+ 42. Rc2 Qe6 43. Qd8+ Kh7 44. Qxa5 b3 45. Rc1 Qd5 46. Qb4 Qg2 47. Qe4+ Qxe4 48. dxe4 b2 49. Rb1 Ba2 50. Rxb2 Nc4+ 51. Kc3 Nxb2 1/2-1/2

2024 World Chess Championship - What a save

 The 7th game of the 2024 World Chess Championship was probably the most exciting game so far. Both players seemed committed to keeping the game unbalanced, which lead to some exciting play, especially before the first time control.

Around move 20 Ding went to win the white a pawn, at the risk of getting his queen shut off from the rest of the board. This gave Gukesh a chance for a clear advantage, but before he cashed in he repeated the position. This decision caused a groan from the audience in the playing hall, but when Gukesh played 29.Rxb5, the mood was somewhat lightened. When Gukesh played 30.Qf4 it looked as if the game was all over, but then Ding played a number of saving moves with both players short of time, and when move 40  was reached (for White), it seemed another draw was on the board. However move 40 for Black was an error, and within a few moves Gukesh was almost certainly winning. But just as quickly as the win appeared, it disappeared again, with Gukesh failing to find the winning line. Although the position was still difficult to play, Ding found the right moves and a draw was reached on move 72.

A real let off for Ding, and the fact that the match is still tied, is putting more pressure on Gukesh. Having predicted that this game would be drawn (to a few people in the media centre), I think there will be a decisive result in one of the next 2 games. The only problem is I am not sure who will achieve it!

Gukesh D (2783) - Ding,Liren (2728) [D78]
FIDE World Championship Match 2024 Singapore SGP (7), 3.12.2024

1. Nf3 d5 2. g3 g6 3. d4 Bg7 4. c4 c6 5. Bg2 Nf6 6. O-O O-O 7. Re1 dxc4 8. e4 Bg4 9. Nbd2 c5 10. d5 e6 11. h3 Bxf3 12. Bxf3 exd5 13. exd5 Nbd7 14. Nxc4 b5 15. Na3 Qb6 16. Bf4 Rfe8 17. Qd2 Rad8 18. Nc2 Nf8 19. b4 c4 20. Be3 Qa6 21. Bd4 Rxe1+ 22. Rxe1 Qxa2 23. Ra1 Qb3 24. Ra3 Qb1+ 25. Kg2 Rd7 26. Ra5 Qb3 27. Ra3 Qb1 28. Ra5 Qb3 29. Rxb5 Qd3 30. Qf4 Qxc2 31. Bxf6 Qf5 32. Qxf5 gxf5 33. Bxg7 Kxg7 34. Rc5 Ng6 35. Rxc4 Ne5 36. Rd4 Nc6 37. Rf4 Ne7 38. b5 Kf6 39. Rd4 h6 40. Kf1 Ke5 41. Rh4 Nxd5 42. Rxh6 Nc3 43. Rc6 Ne4 44. Ke1 f6 45. h4 Rd3 46. Bd1 f4 47. gxf4+ Kxf4 48. Bc2 Rd5 49. Rc4 f5 50. Rb4 Kf3 51. Bd1+ Kg2 52. Rb3 Re5 53. f4 Re7 54. Re3 Rh7 55. h5 Nf6 56. Re5 Nxh5 57. Rxf5 Ng3 58. Rf8 Rb7 59. Ba4 Kf3 60. f5 Kf4 61. f6 Ne4 62. Bc2 Nd6 63. Rd8 Ke5 64. Bb3 Nf7 65. Rd5+ Kxf6 66. Kd2 Rb6 67. Bc4 Rd6 68. Kc3 Rxd5 69. Bxd5 Nd6 70. Kb4 Nxb5 71. Kxb5 a6+ 72. Kxa6 1/2-1/2

A different SIO

 Running alongside the 2024 World Championship match is the 2024 Singapore International Open (SIO). Taking advantage of the interest generated by the WCC, the SIO has attracted over 500 players across both sections. The top section is restricted to players over 1800, and used accelerated pairings to improve the norm chances of the players in the top half.

Today is the 2nd double round day of the tournament, with 6 games being played so far, and the 7th in progress as I type this. Almost 40 Australian players are playing across both events, with at least 3 Canberra players among that group.

One of the players in the lead of the Open is GM Zong Yuan Zhao. He is on 5/6, with 4 wins and 2 draws. In today's morning round he beat 14th seed GM Rinat Jumbayev in a game that swung back and forth. He is now on board 3 against 25th seed IM Jan Klimkowski.

Other Australians close to lead include IM James Morris, FM Albert Winkelman, and CM Ben Leong (all on 4/6). Winkelman is quite close to an IM norm based on his current results, although he has attributed this result to his ability in defending a run of bad positions. If he wins his game today, then he will probably only need 1/2 for a norm from this event.

2024 World Chess Championship - A view from the ground

 I had hoped to be watching game 6 of the 2024 World Championship upon my arrival in Singapore last night (or at least the last few moves). But I was grounded in Melbourne by a delayed connection* and so watched the entire game in the terminal, waiting for a 3:25am departure.

Although the game was drawn (the third in a row), there seemed to be a bit more of a fight in this one. Although the minor pieces went by move 20, there was enough play in the major piece ending to keep the spectators engaged. Ding had a small edge (at least according to various engines), but in a practical sense, it might have not been enough to convert, Nonetheless both players tried a few ideas (eg h4-h5 by Ding), before a draw by repetition occurred.

Today is a rest day (and I am typing this in a deserted Media Centre), with Round 7 tomorrow. Along side the World Championship is the 2024 Singapore Open, with a large number of Australian players taking part. GM Zong Yuan Zhao is one of the tournament leaders, and is being featured on the DGT boards. The games can be found at https://lichess.org/broadcast/singapore-international-open-2024/classical-round-5/rpedgvD7#boards

(*The airline concerned starts with a Q and ends with WDGAF)

Ding,Liren (2728) - Gukesh D (2783)[A45]
FIDE World Championship Match 2024 Singapore SGP (6), 1.12.2024

1. d4 Nf6 2. Bf4 d5 3. e3 e6 4. Nf3 c5 5. c3 Bd6 6. Bb5+ Nc6 7. Bxc6+ bxc6 8. Bxd6 Qxd6 9. Qa4 O-O 10. Qa3 Ne4 11. Nfd2 e5 12. Nxe4 dxe4 13. Qxc5 Qg6 14. Nd2 Qxg2 15. O-O-O Qxf2 16. dxe5 Rb8 17. Nc4 Be6 18. Rd2 Qf3 19. Re1 Bxc4 20. Qxc4 Qf5 21. Qxc6 Qxe5 22. Qd5 Qe7 23. Qd6 Qg5 24. Qd5 Qe7 25. Qd6 Qg5 26. Qd5 Qh4 27. Red1 g6 28. Qe5 Rbe8 29. Qg3 Qh5 30. Qf4 Qa5 31. a3 Qb5 32. Rd4 Qe2 33. R1d2 Qf3 34. Kc2 Qxf4 35. exf4 f5 36. h4 e3 37. Re2 Re7 38. Kd3 Rfe8 39. h5 gxh5 40. Rd5 h4 41. Rxf5 Rd7+ 42. Kc2 Kg7 43. Rg2+ Kh8 44. Re2 Kg7 45. Rg2+ Kh8 46. Re2 Kg7 1/2-1/2